The Forum Daily | Wednesday, November 19, 2025https://immigrationforum.org/

**THE FORUM DAILY**

Immigration courts across the country are being used as "deportation traps" as immigrants showing up for hearings are being arrested and detained, report Joshua Goodman and Tim Sullivan of the Associated Press [link removed]. 

In months of observation at proceedings in 21 cities across the country, reporters witnessed cases being dismissed and plainclothes officers then arresting immigrants in the halls of courthouses. Government lawyers are feeling the weight of their part in such proceedings, with one writing to the American Bar Association seeking professional guidance. 

Don’t miss the AP’s accompanying photo gallery [link removed] by Olga Fedorova and Yuki Iwamura.  

As immigrants trying to do the right thing continue to be arrested, "the signal is being sent that following the law will put you in harm’s way," Ansley Skipper writes in The xxxxxx [link removed]. 

Meanwhile, Trump administration policies are making it more difficult for foreign professionals such as doctors and engineers to come to the United States, reports a team with The Washington Post [link removed]. 

The U.S. is "where people want to start businesses and want to be innovative and be pushing the envelope," said Cecilia Esterline of the Niskanen Center. "And if we lose the people who are able to do that, I think we risk our stature internationally, our competitiveness." 

Also worth keeping an eye on: USCIS abruptly canceled naturalization ceremonies without explanation in at least seven upstate New York counties, reports Maria M. Silva of the Times Union [link removed]. 

Welcome to Wednesday’s edition of The Forum Daily. I’m Dan Gordon, the Forum’s VP of Strategic Communications, and the great Forum Daily team also includes Marcela Aguirre, Masooma Amin, Jillian Clark and Clara Villatoro. If you have a story to share from your own community, please send it to me at [email protected] mailto:[email protected]. 

**A TOWN TROUBLED** — Residents of Mount Vernon, Ohio, are troubled after federal agents raided a family-owned business and arrested five workers, report Cameron McWhirter and Ruth Simon of The Wall Street Journal [link removed]. Panchos Tacos is a big part of the local community, including supporting local sports teams and hosting the Rotary Club. "The way the raid took place was not only bizarre, but inappropriate. This is not how this works," said Tanner Salyers, Mount Vernon’s safety-service director. 

**A MOTHER’S FIGHT** — Maribel Lopez’s pending asylum appeal was supposed to protect her from deportation. But the mother of three was arrested in a raid at the nutrition-bar factory in New York where she worked (with authorization), then deported within four days, reports Miriam Jordan of The New York Times [link removed]. Now Lopez is back in the U.S. but in detention, still separated from her three children, including a toddler. 

More on personal impacts: 

* The principal of Immokalee High School in Florida is urging support for students amid enforcement actions in the area. (Edward Franco, Gulf Coast News [link removed]) 

* Legal immigrants affected by reductions in government assistance include some of our resettled Afghan allies. (Paul Heintz, The Boston Globe [link removed]) 

* New citizen Cristina Rojas temporarily closed her bakery in Charlotte, North Carolina, because of immigration enforcement fears. (Skyler Henry, CBS News [link removed]) 

**NEXT CRACKDOWN** — An immigration crackdown planned for New Orleans could begin as early as Dec. 1, reports Camilo Montoya-Galvez of CBS News [link removed]. Around 200 Border Patrol agents are expected to be sent to Louisiana, according to the Department of Homeland Security. Plans obtained by CBS include a request for armored vehicles and special operations teams. 

**PROPOSED ROADBLOCK** — On Monday, the Trump administration proposed allowing immigration officers the authority to deny permanent residency to lawfully present immigrants who legally use public safety net programs such as Medicaid or food and housing assistance, reports Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico [link removed]. The proposal would be a variation on a rule issued during the first Trump administration [link removed] that was later rescinded. 

Thanks for reading, 

Dan 

**P.S. **Loyal customers are supporting a Thai restaurant in Birmingham, Alabama, after an immigration raid there Friday, reports Ayron Lewallen of WVTM 13 [link removed]. 

[link removed]

[link removed]    [link removed]    [link removed]    [link removed]

[link removed]

Unsubscribe from this email list [link removed] or opt out from all Forum emails [link removed]

Forum<br>10 G St NE<br>Suite 500<br>Washington, D.C. 20002<br>United States
www.forumtogether.org [link removed]